The internet

The internet is a global network of computers that use protocols and data
packets to exchange information. There are a range of different protocols
to do different jobs on the network.

What is the internet?

The internet is a global

network
of computers that any computer can join. It is a

WAN
- which is a series of connected
LANs
.
Data packets
are sent between computers using

protocols
that manage how data is

sent and received. The internet also uses different models - such as the
client-server
model and the
P2P
model - to connect computers in different ways. The internet is

leading to more and more people using

cloud
computing to store files and use web

applications online.
Technologies and services available over the internet include:
web pages
HTML
documents that present images, sound and text

accessed through a web browser

web applications - web
software
accessed through a

browser
native apps
- applications developed for specific devices (such as

smartphones
) and accessed without the need for a browser
email
file sharing

 voice calls
streaming
audio and video

Web browser
A web browser is a piece of software that enables the user to access web pages and
web apps on the internet. There are a range of browsers available, and they are usually
free to download and install.

The internet of things

The 'internet of things' is the concept of networking lots of devices so that they can
collect and transmit data. The idea that any object or living being can be uniquely
identified on the internet is central to the concept. By automating the capture of
information, greater quantities of it can be stored and processed.
The 'thing' in the 'internet of things' could include:
sensors monitoring conditions on a farm
the contents of a fridge
an object or person being tracked with an
RFID
tag

Information gathered from such systems can be used to intelligently respond and
adapt to the needs of an environment. For example, if a system detects that a room is
empty, lights and heating can be automatically switched off to reduce waste

Connecting to the internet

To connect a computer or a device to the internet, you need:

an
ISP
a
modem
or

router
(wired or wireless)

a
web browser
or

app
a connection to the network (through a copper wire or a
fibre optic cable

Fibre optics

Fibre optic cabling is made from glass that becomes very flexible when it is thin. Light
is passed through the cable using a
transmitter
. Light travels quickly through the
light-reflecting internal wall of the cable.
The transmitter in the
router
sends light pulses representing

binary
code. When the

data is received, it is decoded back to its binary form and the computer displays the
message.

Advantages
the individual cables are thinner, so larger quantities of cable can be joined
together compared to copper
there is less interference than copper
there is less chance for degeneration

Disadvantages
the UK telephone network still has areas that use copper cable
replacing copper with fibre optic cabling is expensive

Copper cable

Copper cable uses electrical signals to pass data between networks. There are three
types of copper cable: coaxial, unshielded twisted pair and shielded twisted pair.
Coaxial
degenerates over long distances.
Unshielded twisted pair
is made by twisting the copper cables around
each other and this reduces degeneration.
Shielded twisted pair
uses copper shielding around the twisted wires to
make them less susceptible to interference.

Advantages
a cabled telephone can be powered directly from the copper cable, so the
phone will still work if there is a loss of power
copper can be cheaper to set up than fibre optic cabling

Disadvantages
degenerates over long distances

Broadband connections
The internet is transmitted both on physical wires and wireless connections.
Broadband
internet is transmitted on
physical wires
that run underground and under
the oceans.
Download
speeds tend to be faster than
upload
speeds. More bandwidth is assigned
for downloading because there is a higher demand for downloads. Network speeds are
measured by how many
megabytes
they can download per second (MBps).

Broadband can be provided over an ADSL or cable connection.

ADSL
ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) provides connection speeds of up to 24
Mbps and uses a telephone line to receive and transmit
data
.

The speed that data can be transferred is dependent on a number of factors:

Signal quality can vary between phone lines and whilst it doesn't affect
voice signals, it
does
affect data transmissions.
The distance between the modem and the telephone exchange has an
effect on the speed at which data is transferred. A distance of 4 km is
considered the limit for ADSL technology, beyond which it may not work.
An ADSL modem or
router
is needed for broadband internet access over
ADSL. This is usually provided by the
ISP
.

Cable
Cable companies do not use traditional telephone lines to provide broadband internet
access. They have their own
network
which is a combination of co-axial copper cable
and
fibre optic cable
. Copper wires connect a house to the nearest connection point usually a green cabinet in a nearby road. From there, the cables to the telephone
exchange will be fibre optic.
With their purpose-built infrastructure, cable companies are able to provide speeds of
up to 100 MBps - considerably faster than the highest available ADSL speed (24
MBps).
A cable modem or router is needed for broadband internet access over cable. This is
usually provided by the ISP.

The making and receiving of phone calls is not affected because the telephone line is
not used.

3G and 4G
The wireless
3G
and
4G
networks can be accessed through a
smartphone
without the
need for a
WiFi
router

. The data is transmitted through the cellular phone network

rather than the physical cabled network of broadband. This enables anyone to connect
to the internet as long as there is a 3G or 4G connection available.
3G allows for up to 3
MBps
to be downloaded and 4G allows for up to 40 MBps.

Advantages
it provides an internet connection on the move
there is the ability to transfer data fairly quickly with 4G

Disadvantages
it can be expensive to download data
some areas don't have 3G or 4G connections

Protocols

The internet is similar to a road network in that it has rules (protocols) that you need to
follow and only a certain number of vehicles (
data
) can get through at a time
(
bandwidth
). If too many vehicles try to go down the same road you get congestion
(reduced bandwidth).

When two devices send messages to each other it is called

handshaking
- the
client
requests access, the
server
grants it, and the
protocols
are agreed. Once the
handshaking process is complete, the data transfer can begin.
Protocols establish how two computers send and receive a message.
Data packets
travel between source and destination from one
router
to the next. The process of
exchanging data packets is known as
packet switching
.
Protocols manage key points about a message:

speed of transmission
size of the message
error checking
deciding if the transmission is
synchronous
or
asynchronous

TCP/IP (transmission control protocol/internet protocol)

TCP/IP (also known as the internet protocol suite) is the set of protocols used over the
internet. It organises how data packets are communicated and makes sure packets
have the following information:

source
- which computer the message came from
destination
- where the message should go
packet sequence
- the order the message data should be re-assembled
data
- the data of the message
error check
- the check to see that the message has been sent correctly

Internetprotocols
Within
TCP
/
IP
thereareseveralkey
protocols
.Theseincludethefollowing.

IPaddress
Everydeviceontheinternethasa
uniqueIPaddress
.The
IPaddress
isincludedina
datapacket.IPaddressesareeither32
bit
or128bitnumbers.Theaddressisbroken
downintofour8bitnumbers(eachiscalledan
octet
).Eachoctetcanrepresenta
numberbetween0and255andisseparatedbyafullstop,eg192.168.0.12.
TofindyourIPaddressyoucanusetheipconfigcommandlinetool.

Homeandsmallbusinessroutersoftenincorporateabasicdynamichostconfiguration
protocol(DHCP)
server
whichassignsIPaddressestodevicesonanetwork.

Didyouknow?
The32bitIPaddresssystemisalsoknownasIPv4.Itallowsforjustover4billion
uniqueaddresses.IPv6isnowcomingintouse.IPv6uses16bitsforeachsectionof
theaddress,creatinga128bitaddress.Thisallowsalmost80
octillion
uniqueIP
addresses.

FTP
FTP
isusedtotransferlargefiles.Itisoftenusedfororganisingfilesonawebserverfor
awebsite.YoucanhaveprivateaccesstoanareaonanFTPserverwhereyoucan
upload
yourfiles.Youcanthengiveanotheruseraccessto
download
thedocuments
thatyouhaveshared.

HTTP
HTTP
transferswebpagesfromwebserverstotheclient.Allwebpageaddressesstart
withhttp.An
https
addressisasecurewebaddresswhichhasbeen
encrypted
.An
httpsaddressisusedforsitesholdingbankdetailsandsecureinformation.

SMTPandPOP3
Emailusestheseprotocolstocommunicatewithmail
servers
.
SMTP
isusedtosend
theemail
POP
isusedtoreceiveemail.Mostemail
clients
allowfortransfersofupto
10
MB
.

VOIP
VOIP
isasetofprotocolsthatenablespeopletohavevoiceconversationsoverthe
internet.

Web addresses
Every website address has a
URL
with an equivalent
IP address
. A web address
contains (running from left to right):
1.
2.
3.
4.

http
(s)
the domain name - the name of the website
an area within that website like a folder or directory
the web page name the actual page that you are viewing

For example: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/frog

In this example from BBC Nature:
1.
2.
3.
4.

http
is the
protocol
www.bbc.co.uk
is the domain name stored on a
DNS
/nature/life/
is the folder structure leading to where the web page is located
frog
is the requested web page

Name servers
are used to host and match website addresses to
IP addresses
. DNS
is the main system over the internet that uses the name server.
When you type in a
URL
, the
ISP
looks up the domain name, finds the matching IP
address and sends it back.
The
web browser
sends a request straight to that IP address for the page or file that
you are looking for.
Every website has a URL with an equivalent IP address.

Streaming
Streaming high-quality images, music and video requires a lot of data.
Compression
reduces file sizes whilst keeping the high quality of the original media.

Music and video

Compression is important for reducing music and video file sizes. Music and video files
can both be either
downloaded
as permanent files or streamed temporarily.

A downloaded file creates a file you can store permanently. Streamed files are not
stored permanently. Streaming allows data to be used immediately but the whole file is
not downloaded. Popular streaming sites include BBC iPlayer, Spotify and YouTube.
Data is streamed by the service to the client. The client could be a
web application
,
web browser
or
native app
. A browser needs to use HTML5 or a
plug-in
to decode
the audio or video.
HTML5
is a new version of
HTML
which makes it possible for
compatible browsers to stream audio and video without the need for plug-ins.

Buffering
A
buffer
is a temporary storage space where data can be held and processed. The
buffer holds the data that is required to listen to or watch the media. As data for a file is
downloaded it is held in the buffer temporarily. As soon as enough data is in the buffer
the file will start playing.

When you see the warning sign 'buffering' this means that the client is waiting for more
data from the server. The buffer will be smaller if the computer is on a faster network.

Glossary
1. 3G -
The third generation of mobile phone telecommunications network that
enables mobile devices to connect to the internet.
2. 4G -
The fourth generation of mobile phone telecommunications network that
enables mobile devices to connect to the internet.
3. app -
An abbreviation for 'application'.
4. asynchronous -
A form of data exchange which is irregular. Most exchanges of
data over a network are asynchronous.
5. bandwidth -
Bandwidth measures the amount of data that can transfer through
a communications channel over a given period of time.
6. binary -
A number system that contains two digits, 0 and 1. Also known as base
2.
7. bit -
The smallest unit of data in computing represented by a 1 in binary.
8. broadband -
A high-speed internet connection.
9. browser -
An application used to view web pages, eg Internet Explorer or
Google Chrome.

10. buffer -
A temporary area of computer memory used to store data for running
processes.
11. client -
The computer on a network that request data from a server.
12. client-server -
A form of computer networking where the website or web
application is hosted on a server and accessed by client computers.
13. cloud -
A term often used to describe a location on the internet from which
software applications are run and where data is stored.
14. compression -
A method of reducing file sizes, particularly in digital media such
as photos, audio and video.
15. data -
Units of information. In computing there can be different data types
including integers, characters, and Boolean. Data is often acted on by
instructions.
16. data packet -
A piece of data sent over a network. Messages have to be broken
down into binary data packets before they are transferred.
17. DNS -
Domain name system (or servers) - an internet service that translates IP
addresses into website domain names. All websites have equivalent IP
addresses.
18. downloading -
To copy a file from the internet onto your computer or device.
19. encrypt -
Files that are encrypted have been altered using a secret code and
are unreadable to unauthorised parties.
20. fibre optic cable -
Cable that carries data transmitted as light.
21. FTP -
File transfer protocol - a protocol used to transfer large files across the
internet
22. HTML -
Hypertext markup language. The language used to write and display
web page documents.
23. http -
Hypertext transfer protocol - a request/response standard. Web browsers
send requests and websites or servers respond to requests.
24. internet -
A global network connecting millions of computers.
25. IP -
Internet Protocol - A set of rules for communicating over the internet. IP can
also stand for intellectual property.
26. IP address -
A unique address for each computer device on a network.
27. ISP -
Internet Service Provider - needed in order to access the internet. They
also provide services such as web space and email.
28. LAN -
Local Area Network (LAN): a network of computers that covers a small
area, eg a school or college.
29. MB -
Megabyte (MB) - a measurement of file size or storage capacity. 1,048,576
bytes.
30. MBps -
Megabytes per second - a measurement of data transfer speed.

31. modem -
Meaning 'Modulator / Demodulator'. Allows computers to connect to
a network over a telephone line.
32. native app -
Applications created for a specific device.
33. network -
A group of interconnected computers.
34. octet -
8 bits.
35. octillion -
10 to the power of 27. A thousand quadrillion.
36. P2P -
Peer-to-peer - a type of network model where all computers on the
network share responsibility and there is no one central server.
37. plug-in -
Software that is added to an internet browser, eg Adobe Flash is a
plug-in that is often required to play video.
38. POP -
Post Office Protocol - used to retrieve email from a server.
39. protocol -
A set of rules for how messages are turned into data packets and
sent across networks.
40. RFID -
Radio frequency identification. A simple wireless system that transfers
data to/from an electronic tracking tag.
41. router -
A device for connecting computers and other network capable devices
together to form a network.
42. server -
A computer that holds data to be shared with other computers. A web
server stores and shares websites. Servers require server software.
43. smartphone -
A mobile phone with a powerful processor that is capable of
running applications and accessing the internet.
44. SMTP -
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol - used to send emails between servers.
45. software -
The programs, applications and data in a computer system. Any
parts of a computer system that aren't physical.
46. streaming -
A method of delivering and receiving media such as audio and
video in a continuous form over a network.
47. synchronous -
In computing this contrasts with asynchronous. This means that
exchanges of data are regular.
48. system -
Refers to the inputs, stores, flows and outputs of water into a glacier.
49. TCP -
Transmission control protocol - one of the main protocols in the set of
protocols used on the internet. TCP allows two computers to establish a
connection.
50. transmitter -
An electronic device that produces radio waves.
51. upload -
To add data to a server on the internet, eg you can upload videos to
social media websites.
52. URL -
Uniform Resource Locator - Each web page address on a network is
written as a URL. It contains the IP address and the DNS and web page details.
53. VoIP -
Voice over internet protocol - a protocol used for communicating voice
data over the internet.

54. WAN -
Wide area network - a network that spans across a building, buildings or
even countries, eg the internet.
55. web application -
Software that runs in a web browser. Most websites are web
applications which use scripting to make the site interactive.
56. web browser -
An application that displays web pages.
57. wireless -
A connection that does not need wires and transmits data through
radio signals.